If you had told me say five years ago that I would be cold plunging in the Canadian winters, I would have said you were crazy! However, in the past couple of years, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to spend time at various Nordic spas in Canada and have become obsessed with the healing benefits of contrast or hot cold therapy (including cold plunges) and inspired by the hygge atmosphere. Hygge (pronounced “hoo-gah”) is a Danish and Norwegian word that describes a feeling of contentment and coziness.
1) “Zones de silence” and “zones de whispering.” All Nordic spas that I’ve been to ask for complete silence while using most features with perhaps a few allowed whispering zones. This helps to facilitate a serene, introspective and healing setting. My husband and I have taken this concept home with us, and we’ve been experimenting with certain periods in the day of silence or whispering in our home, and we have found it is very supportive in cultivating a peaceful energy. As someone who loves talking and also loves introverted time, I have been enjoying having more structure around designated times for each.
2) Hot and cold cycles – feeling your edges. I’ve written in previous posts a little about how I’ve been exploring the concept of finding balance within myself and my life. As crazy as it may sound, the hot cold therapy I’ve been able to explore at Nordic spas has been a supportive component of this. After all, how do I know what balance is if I don’t know what my edges are in either direction.
The way the thermal cycle or hot cold therapy works is you start with a hot feature such as a steam room (my favorite – they often add essential oils like eucalyptus or orange) or sauna and stay for around 15 minutes give or take until you are sweating profusely and are extremely hot and a cold plunge is starting to sound quite appealing. Then you muster up all your courage and take a dip in a cold plunge (temps range from 45 to 60 generally but are sometimes a lot colder, for instance if you do a river plunge in the winter, the water temperature is just above freezing) for anywhere from a few seconds in and out up to a few minutes.
While hot is a lot more appealing initially, if you stay to your edge, it gets intense and from my experience there is an edge. I overstayed (aka went past my edge that day) my welcome in a steam room once and came close to passing out. On the other hand, if I leave as soon as it’s just a little uncomfortable and too hot (not yet at my edge that day), I won’t build enough heat to do a proper cold plunge.
Cold plunges have an edge too. And like hot edges, they do vary time to time based on your current physiological condition. By physiological condition, I mean things like are you well rested, hydrated, and in the case of a cold plunge how hot did you get going into it and how cold (and far) is your walk from the steam room or sauna to the cold plunge. Because, yes, in most Nordic spas you have to walk outside in cold conditions in the winter to get from one feature like a sauna to the cold plunge. The best spas have those features very close together.
If I leave a cold plunge too soon well before my edge, I’ll still reap the benefits of course but just not as much and I won’t feel as amazing after. Fun fact, the first few times I went to Nordic spas I didn’t cold plunge and then only a very, very fast in and out. What converted me to being a cold plunge enthusiast was staying in long enough for the first time to get over that initial panic response and watch my body calm down. Then coming out I felt amazing tingles all over. Let me tell you there really is nothing like relaxing and meditating (or napping) after a hot cold cycle.
On the opposite side of the cold plunge edge, I have found my edge (for me in this experience probably about 3-4 minutes in around 55-degree water when it was around 20 to 30 degrees outside) in that when I left the cold plunge for a little while after getting out, my body was shaking and muscles spasming. It was fascinating and a little disconcerting in the moment and when I researched that after, I learned that was my body’s response trying to warm up. I would and have gone close to that edge again but definitely would not want to go over it. And most times I cold plunge I’m content not trying to push it that much.
Suffice it to say, hot cold cycles have been a wonderful way for me to connect deeper with my mind body spirit unit and edges to then find balance and equilibrium (in the relaxation phase of the thermal cycle after you do the hot and cold).
3) Cold plunges: I’d just like to add that besides the numerous studied benefits of cold plunges and hot cold therapy (everything from improved circulation, skin health, detoxification, better sleep and immune system strengthening to stress reduction, improved mood, mental clarity and mindfulness), for the cold plunge side of things specifically there is something really empowering to doing something that I find really scary (yet know is safe and will be good for me) and uncomfortable. In the last few months, I cold plunged in the winter for the first time including going in a few rivers, and it felt like a big personal accomplishment.
I hinted as much at the beginning of this post that I would have called you crazy if you had told me I’d be cold plunging 5 years ago and it’s really true. I am someone that runs cold perpetually after all, so cold plunges really did sound nuts originally. What’s neat is that while I still run cold, cold plunges aside, I’m also not as nervous of cold temps as I used to be. After all, if I can go in a river in sub-freezing temps, I’m pretty sure I can do any number of cold weather activities wearing the appropriate winter gear.
In addition, having under my belt that I’ve done (many times now) something scary and uncomfortable makes me feel a little braver about taking on other scary and uncomfortable things outside of the cold plunge.
4) Permission to just be without having to “do” anything (except maybe reading if I so choose). Something I really value about a day at a Nordic spa is that I can just quietly be. I don’t have to do anything. I mean besides going from the steam room or sauna to cold plunge to a relaxation room. I take that back cold plunges especially are hard work so I suppose I’m “doing” plenty. Jokes aside, I mean I’m getting to just be in the sense that for me going to a Nordic spa is like going to a silent healing retreat. I’m setting aside my phone, to do list and hustle and bustle of life and activities, and am simply being present in my body, in the present moment. It’s a chance to unplug and be immersed in a healing and rejuvenating experience.
If you’re interested, there are an abundance of Nordic spas in the Quebec and Montreal regions (so far in the last few years my husband and I have been to over 20!), and for around $50 you can spend the day in them going through the thermal cycle of hot, cold, relax as many times as your heart and body desires. Many are in beautiful nature settings and also have delicious cafes if you get hungry. One of my favorite spas, Strom Spa in Quebec City also has fun bonus features like a lazy hot tub river and a float tank pool that’s like floating in the dead sea. Grab your bathing suit, spa sandals, a book and you’re ready to go!
P.S. Perhaps in a future blog, I’ll share a full review of my favorite spas. For now though, I can’t mention Strom without mentioning another favorite spa, Siberia, in the outskirts of Quebec city which has my favorite steam room and favorite relaxation hut, a wonderful hygge yurt with cozy hammocks and a wood burning fire and the soothing sounds of a gurgling river outside.